Cameroon: Flawed Decentralization and the Politics Of Identity in the Urban Space
Keywords:
Economic liberalization, effectively relinquish
Abstract
Urban governance policies in Cameroon within the past two decades of political and economic liberalization have witnessed significant administrative and political setbacks. While the government of Cameroon tacitly embraced decentralization as a viable administrative and political strategy for improving the management of cities, the process has been stalled by excessive state interventionism. This paper draws on the decentralization experience of the coastal city of Limbe in the southwest region of Cameroon to analyze the emerging trajectories of conflict embedded in the current decentralization drive of city governance. Based on interviews of some municipal officials conducted in May and June 2011, this paper makes the case that the current urban governance crisis in Cameroon is traceable largely to the weak political impulse of central government to effectively relinquish its traditional grip on power at all levels of society. This partly explains why cities in Cameroon have failed to deliver expected services to their clientele, the population, on a regular and efficient manner.
Downloads
- Article PDF
- TEI XML Kaleidoscope (download in zip)* (Beta by AI)
- Lens* NISO JATS XML (Beta by AI)
- HTML Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- DBK XML Kaleidoscope (download in zip)* (Beta by AI)
- LaTeX pdf Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- EPUB Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- MD Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- FO Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- BIB Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- LaTeX Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
How to Cite
References
J Ahmed (2005) Decentralization and Service Delivery.
L Ball (2005) The changing landscape of foundation-led community development. 19-27.
R Bates (1994) The Impulse to Reform in Africa in. 13-28.
S Belluci (2002) Governance, Civil Society, and NGOs in Mozambique.
Bruce Berman (2006) The Ordeal of Modernity in an Age of Terror. 49(1), 1-14.
S Berry (2004) Reinventing the Local? Privatization, Decentralization and the Politics of Resource Management: Examples from Africa. 25(2), 79-101.
C Boone (2003) Decentralization as Political Strategy in West Africa. 36(4), 355-380.
Emilie Caldeira, Martial Foucault, Grégoire Rota-Graziosi (2010) Decentralisation in Africa and the Nature of Local Governments' Competition: Evidence from Benin. 19.
Bambi Ceuppens, Peter Geschiere (2005) AUTOCHTHONY: Local or Global? New Modes in the Struggle over Citizenship and Belonging in Africa and Europe. 34(1), 385-407.
(2008) Support for Decentralization Reforms, Ghana: Interim Evaluation.
P Ekeh (1975) Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement. 17(1), 91-112.
Charles Eyong, Oben Mbuagbo (2003) Assessment of the Hygiene and Sanitation Campaign in Cameroon. 4(4), 391-402.
J Falleti (2004) A Sequential Theory of Decentralization: Latin American Cases in Comparative Perspective. 99(3), 327-346.
John Forje (2008) Science and Technology: The African Search for a Third Way to Development. 4(3), 355-369.
Paul Francis, Robert James (2003) Balancing Rural Poverty Reduction and Citizen Participation: The Contradictions of Uganda's Decentralization Program. 31(2), 325-337.
Peter Geschiere (1993) Chiefs and colonial rule in Cameroon: inventing chieftaincy, French and British Style. 63(2), 151-175.
P Geschiere (2004) Ecology, Belonging and Xenophobia: The 1994 Forest Law in Cameroon and the Issue of 'Community.
P Geschiere, S Jackson (2006) Autochthony and the Crisis of Citizenship: Democratization, Decentralization and the Politics of Belonging. 49(2), 1-14.
K Gough, P Yankson (2001) Associational Life in African Cities: Popular Responses to the Urban Crisis. 127-142.
R Joseph (1978) Gaullist Africa: Cameroon under Ahmadu Ahidjo.
B Jua (2001) Civil Society contribution to Democratic Consolidation in Africa. 8(1), 4-19.
Piet Konings (2001) Mobility and Exclusion: Conflicts between Autochthons and Allochthons during Political Liberalisation in Cameroon. 169-194.
A Mabogunje (1999) Local Governance and Social Capital in Africa: The Nigerian Case. 29-40.
John Mbaku (2002) Cameroon's Stalled Transition to Democratic Governance: Lessons for Africa's New Democrats. 1(3), 125-163.
O Mbuagbo (2002) Cameroon: Exploiting Anglophone Identity in State Deconstruction. 8(3), 431-438.
O Mbuagbo, R Akoko (2004) Breaking the Foreign Pot: Mainline Churches and the Burden of Democratization in Cameroon. 11(1), 1-12.
Celestina Neh Fru, Andrew Tassang (2011) Socioeconomic Challenges to Cervical Cancer Screening in Underserved Communities: Doukoula, Extreme North -Cameroon.. 3(2), 354-362.
Oben Mbuagbo, Rogers Egbe Orock (2012) Urban Governance Policies in Cameroon and the Crisis of Political Exclusion: A Case Study of the City of Kumba. 47(2), 176-189.
S Myllyla (2001) NGOs in Urban Environmental Governance: Waste Recycling in Cairo.
Stephen Ndegwa (2002) Decentralization in Africa : Emerging Trends and Progress. 40.
Ngere Ethel, Magaret Njikam, Emmanuel Yenshu (2008) Care for Older Persons in Cameroon: Alternatives for Social Development. 5(1), 001-012.
Dele Olowu (1999) 8 Governance and Corruption in West Africa. 105-118.
(2009) Unknown Title.
Fumihiko Saito (2001) Evolution of Decentralization in Uganda: Opportunities, Perceptions and Constraints. 31, 49-76.
Z Scott (2009) Decentralization, Local Development and Social Cohesion: An Analytical Review.
A Simone (2005) introduction: Urban Processes and Change. 1-26.
Paul Smoke (2003) Decentralisation in Africa: goals, dimensions, myths and challenges. 23(1), 7-16.
R Southall, G Wood (1996) LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE RETURN TO MULTI-PARTYISM IN KENYA. 95(381), 501-527.
C Tacoli (2001) Urbanization and Migration in Sub-Saharan Africa: Changing Patterns and Trends.
E Tanjong (2008) NGOs and 'civil society'. 137-157.
Sammy Arrey, Peters Etchu (2008) THE GOVERNMENT OF CAMEROON AND THE ANGLOPHONE CIVIL SOCIETY CONSORTIUM: GLIMMERS TO THE CAMEROON ANGLOPHONE ARMED CONFLICT. 05(04), 46-67.
O Therkildsen (1947) Efficiency, Accountability and Implementation: Public Sector Reforms in East and Southern Africa. (3).
(2008) Bafaws Alarmed by Expansionist Traits of Settlers. 16.
(1004) The Government opts for Cosmetic Decentralization. 2.
(2008) Serbia : Decentralization and Local Service Delivery.
A Tostensen (2001) Associational Life in African Cities: Popular Responses to the Urban Crisis. 7-26.
B Whitaker (2005) Citizens and Foreigners: Democratization and the Politics of Exclusion in Africa. 48(1), 109-126.
J Wunsch (2010) Decentralization, Local Governance and the Democratic Transition in Southern Africa.
Published
2012-09-06
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2012 Authors and Global Journals Private Limited
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.